Let me take a second to enlighten anyone who's never been to a thrift store or heard that Macklemore song: there are broken keyboards. Everywhere. And because they're so abundant, broken keyboards can usually be had for really cheap. But wait...what can you do with a broken keyboard? Make this pencil cup, for starters.

With a waste-not-want-not philosophy, Amy from Maker Mama crafted a set of decorative cups using the inner membranes of a keyboard—the silicone key-press and circuit board—to decorate a glass container. The result is a desk organizer or pencil cup with subtle geek cred.

Amy offers up detailed instructions for taking a standard keyboard apart on Maker Mama. But the whole project is pretty simple. Unscrew, wrap and glue. Done!

Looking for something to do with the leftover keys? Craft a notebook (or another pencil cup) in the style of these goodies fromPerpetual Kid.

Or copy and paste this resourceful decorative project by Jeromina Juan of Paper, Plate, and Plane, converting old keyboard keys into framed warm hearted sentiments, guaranteed a smile once Command+O'ed.